


You're Safe Here

by Thunder_of_Dragons



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Room of Requirement, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22044829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunder_of_Dragons/pseuds/Thunder_of_Dragons
Summary: Surviving during the Carrows’ reign at Hogwarts isn’t easy, but a Room may provide the refuge they need.
Relationships: Terry Boot & Michael Corner & Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot/Michael Corner/Anthony Goldstein
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: Harry Potter Rare Pair Bingo: Round One!





	You're Safe Here

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to the HP Rare Pair Bingo mods for putting this fest on! I'd never heard of this ship before, but now I'm solidly shipping it.
> 
> Also, another huge thanks goes to my beta, CheekyTorah! It’s a rough job finding all of my American spellings.

# You're Safe Here

It started when the Carrows came for Neville. 

Everyone knew it was only a matter of time. After all, Neville had become the uncontested commander of Dumbledore’s Army when Severus Snape became the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but they were surprised that the Carrows had waited until late January to target him. Though they’d been nervous already, everyone began watching their backs a bit more closely when Luna was taken after Christmas. Nobody knew if they would ever see her again, but they did know Neville Longbottom would be next.

The Carrows kidnapped Neville’s gran to try to control him, but they were fools to underestimate the great Augusta Longbottom. She had raised both her son and her grandson, who had respectively become a fierce member of the Auror Force a strategic leader for the resistance within Hogwarts. It takes a special kind of lady to raise such strong men, so it was no surprise to the members of Dumbledore’s Army when Augusta escaped the Death Eaters and successfully went on the run.

That was when the Death Eaters came directly for him, and Neville found Dumbledore’s Army’s base. Their command centre. Their home. It was where they had come together so frequently during their fifth year, and yet they had forgotten about its secrets until the second half of the school year. The Room of Requirement.

* * *

Michael was one of the first to join Neville when they began to take refuge. 

A nearly defenceless first-year student had been chained up by the Carrows for studying in the library too late and getting caught in the hallways after curfew. Michael snuck out of Ravenclaw Tower that night and freed the young student. The first year was saved, but Michael had been captured and tortured in the first year’s place.

The next morning, Michael Corner was taken to the Great Hall in his chains. Though breakfast was served, none of the students were able to eat after watching Michael be held under the Cruciatus Curse for extended periods of time throughout the meal. The Carrows gave Michael breaks, but they were only long enough to keep him from going insane. The Carrows spent the interludes whipping him, and he was unconscious by the end of breakfast.

Madam Pomfrey took the boy into her care, but she was not permitted to do anything in terms of healing him. She could only provide a safe place for him to rest, gentle care to clean and cover the gaping wounds on his back, and a full meal when Michael returned to consciousness in the afternoon. 

That evening, Anthony and Terry arrived in the Hospital Wing. Anthony told Madam Promfrey that he was the Ravenclaw prefect assigned to escort Michael back to the Tower and that Terry was along to help support Michael. Madam Pomfrey reluctantly allowed Michael to leave the Hospital Wing, but she turned a blind eye when the triad began walking in the wrong direction to reach Ravenclaw Tower.

Michael was too tired to speak, so he didn’t question the boys when they headed down the wrong hallway outside the Hospital Wing. He simply rested his torso on Terry Boot and continued walking. They remained silent until they reached their first staircase. Anthony Goldstein pulled out his wand and quietly cast the Levitation Charm on Michael’s body to help guide him up the many staircases the triad would have to climb. Outside the Room of Requirement, Anthony paced back and forth in front of the tapestry three times, and a door appeared in front of them. The triad stepped inside and ensured the door was shut behind them. 

“You’re safe here, Michael,” Neville said as he stepped up to the exhausted young man. “The Room already prepared a bedroom for you. From what I’ve heard, I’m placing you on immediate bed rest.” 

The group of young men moved to a small room that was about half the size of a regular Hogwarts dormitory. It had a simple bed laying against the far wall, a small trunk at the foot of the bed, and a few lit sconces around the walls. The accommodations certainly weren’t quite as nice as what Michael had in the dormitories, but he was safe and had a place to sleep. Considering the day’s events, he was willing to take it.

Neville let the triad in and paused in the doorway. “I’ll be over soon with all the medicinal herbs we’ve been able to procure, but it’s a pretty sparse collection so far.” He sighed. “We don’t have any potions, so I don’t have anything to offer you on that front. It’ll be a while until we have the proper equipment and ingredients to brew them ourselves, much less anyone with the appropriate knowledge to brew them correctly.” Neville chuckled and turned, saying over his shoulder, “You certainly don’t want me to brew anything.”

Terry guided Michael over to the bed and helped him lay down while Anthony rummaged around in his bag. “Michael,” Terry said, “Anthony brought some of your clothes with us, so you’ll have a spare set. He didn’t have much space, though.”

Anthony handed Michael a small pile of clothes before digging in his bag again. “I did grab your mum’s pendant, though.” He pulled out a long silver chain with a large opal set in silver hanging from it and hung it around Michael’s neck, placing the opal gently on his chest. “We’ll try to save everything we can, but I’m sure the Carrows will confiscate your belongings once they discover you’ve disappeared.”

Michael frowned and put his right hand over the opal. “Do you mean that you’re going back out there? Both of you?” Terry and Anthony nodded. “It’s too dangerous. You saw what they did to me this morning; they’ll do the same when they realize you’ve helped me.”

Terry sat beside Michael and set a hand on his knee. “We know it’s dangerous, but we have important missions to carry out for the Army.”

Anthony rubbed the back of his neck. “I also may have told Madam Pomfrey a lie. Nobody sent us to collect you from the Hospital Wing. We set up some Weasleys’ prank items in the dungeons before we came to get you. Madam Pomfrey will be so swamped with students recovering from the portable swamp and firecrackers that she’ll easily be able to explain that there was just too much going on for her to notice you leaving.”

“We doubt it can be tracked to us,” said Terry.

Michael nodded and reached for Anthony’s hand. “Promise me you’ll be careful on your missions. We all know there will be many casualties before this war is over; we don’t need to add any more from Hogwarts.” Michael groaned and closed his eyes. “What are you doing for the Army?”

Neville walked into the room and began laying herbs on top of the trunk. “Anthony is working with Professor Sprout to smuggle more plants into the Room. We need a larger supply of herbs, and stealing them can only go so far. Since so few of the seventh years were admitted into the NEWTs level Potions class, Terry is stealing ingredients and supplies for us to set up a dedicated Potions lab in the Room.” Neville grabbed a pile of herbs from the trunk and walked over to Michael. “Turn on over. The wounds on your back looked the worst; I’d like to heal them first.” Michael rolled slowly onto his side. “I expect you’ll help with brewing once you’ve recovered. We could really use some antidotes and healing potions. I’ll defer to you and Terry to decide which potions we need specifically; everyone knows I’m rubbish at potions.” Michael yelped as Neville placed the herbs on his open wounds. “Don’t worry; Anthony and Terry will stay here once their missions are complete. Our main priority is keeping everyone safe right now while we wait on news from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.”

“Speaking of, we’d better leave, Terry.” Anthony looked apologetically at Michael. “Heal up, get some rest, and don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

The others left Michael alone to heal, and he became the first Ravenclaw to call the Room of Requirement home during the Carrows’ reign.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Michael wasn’t the only Ravenclaw to call the Room of Requirement home.

Terry and Anthony had completed their missions for the Army, and now they comfortably shared Michael’s small but practical room. The Room had provided two more pairs of beds and trunks for the incoming Ravenclaws. That was fine with them, seeing as the boys only entered their room to sleep. All they needed was a place to lay down, though the trunks were nice additions for storing their meagre belongings.

During the day, Terry and Michael brewed potions. Anthony took over teaching the younger students who had taken refuge within the Room of Requirement, though he occasionally shared his duties with the other seventh-year students. While Defence Against the Dark Arts was a priority, Neville and Anthony had decided that the younger students needed to continue learning all types of magic to keep their situation as normal as possible, and Anthony had to admit that he was not skilled in every subject.

At night, their situation was quite different. Normally, the triad only managed to schedule in a few hours to sleep in between all of their tasks for the Army. When they did sleep, they were plagued with nightmares of the war they’d found themselves battling. One of them would scream, whine, or whimper in their sleep, and it wasn’t unusual for another of them to get up, reassure them with a quiet, “You’re safe here,” and then climb in bed with them for a comforting round of cuddles.

None of the boys commented when the Room decided to provide them with one large king-sized bed instead of their individual beds, though they did notice they had fewer nightmares. The triad didn’t have time to do much of anything other than sleep or contribute to the Army’s war efforts, but when they were able to be in their bed at the same time, they were comforted by each other’s weight and body heat. 

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to remind them of what they were fighting for.

Each other.


End file.
